are all of this world, pursuing matters ministering to the flesh and the blood.  And O tiger among men, at such period the asylums of ascetics become full of sinful and audacious wretches ever applauding lives of dependence.  And the illustrious chastiser of Paka never showers rain according to the seasons and the seeds also that are scattered on earth, do not, O Bharata, all sprout forth.  And men, unholy in deed and thought, take pleasure in envy and malice.  And, O sinless one, the earth then becometh full of sin and immorality.  And, O lord of the earth, he that becometh virtuous at such periods doth not live long.  Indeed, the earth becometh reft of virtue in every shape.  And, O tiger among men, the merchants and traders then full of guile, sell large quantities of articles with false weights and measures.  And they that are virtuous do not prosper; while they that are sinful proper exceedingly.  And virtue loseth her strength while sin becometh all powerful.  And men that are devoted to virtue become poor and short-lived; while they that are sinful become long-lived and win prosperity.  And in such times, people behave sinfully even in places of public amusements in cities and towns.  And men always seek the accomplishment of their ends by means that are sinful.  And having earned fortunes that are really small they become intoxicated with the pride of wealth.  And O monarch, many men at such periods strive to rob the wealth that hath from trust been deposited with them in secrecy.  And wedded to sinful practices, they shamelessly declare—­there is nothing in deposit.  And beasts of prey and other animals and fowl may be seen to lie down in places of public amusement in cities and towns, as well as in sacred edifices.  And, O king girls of seven or eight years of age do then conceive, while boys of ten or twelve years beget offspring.  And in their sixteenth year, men are overtaken with decrepitude and decay and the period of life itself is soon outrun.  And O king, when men become so short-lived, more youths act like the aged; while all that is observable in youth may be noticed in the old.  And women given to impropriety of conduct and marked by evil manners, deceive even the best of husbands and forget themselves with menials and slaves and even with animals.  And O king, even women that are wives of heroes seek the companionship of other men and forget themselves with these during the life-time of their husbands.

“’O king, towards the end of those thousands of years constituting the four Yugas and when the lives of men become so short, a drought occurs extending for many years.  And then, O lord of the earth, men and creatures endued with small strength and vitality, becoming hungry die by thousands.  And then, O lord of men, seven blazing Suns, appearing in the firmament, drink up all the waters of the Earth that are in rivers or seas.  And, O bull of the Bharata race, then also everything of the nature of wood and grass that is wet to dry, is consumed and